Primo’s Hybrid Reaver Guide

The Hybrid Reaver Hero is currently Zerg’s primary tank hero. It an irreplaceable unit in a team fight Zerg composition. It is also an IH viable hero. In this guide I will go over everything you need to know to become a competent Hybrid Reaver player.

ExplanationI always grab (E)Void Leak first out of habit. On maps such as solar where you have a double lane that splits, damage from (E)Void Leak will draw the creeps to the bunker you want. I get (Q)Essence Sap second to poke/gank enemy heroes. In the order above, I stated getting Constricting Slime(W) last but you can get a level if you are against a cloaked hero although I do think buying overseers to be more efficient. I then max Mind Consumption(R) last because the Hybrid Reaver is a team oriented hero and the more allied heroes that are near you, the more DPS you have and more damage reduction for spells you have. Max Constricting Slime(W) last.

Core Items Nydus Worm/Nydus Canal– Replace Nydus Worm with Nydus Canal late game. One of Zerg’s primary strengths is the mobility of Nydus Canal. Corrupted Spines – Doubles the bounty of a creep killed with it. Caps at 36. Grab this first after Nydus Worm. Starts off dealing 10 damage and scales with hero level and stats. Drop this for another item once you are around level 7. Glaive Wurms– Passively attacks a unit within a range of 3 and bounces to 2 other targets dealing less damage with each hit. Grab this after Corrupted Spines to help with early game farm. Scales with stats and hero level.Aerodynamic Carapace– Increases speed by .75. Every hero needs this. Spawn Broodlings – Fires a pair of broodlings at a ground target and stuns the target for 1.5 seconds. This helps for ganks and escaping. Damage scales with stats and hero level. Enhanced Cellular Life– Passively increases life by 25%. This item helps you tank more damage.Infested Colony – Every Zerg hero should grab at least one of these. Has the ability to calldown creep tumors, calldown overseers, and Natural Predation. Natural Predation Infuses a feral rage that has 50% to succeed for a duration of 15 seconds in a radius of 8. Any feral unit becomes hostile and randomly attacks other units. It’s also a great way to counter any Dark Archon or Domination army as it has a 50% chance to turn the units back from their mind controlled states.

Situational Items Spawn Scourge– Creates a pair of scourges that are suicide air units. Deals 60 + (6*level) and scales with level and stats. Get these if your team needs help taking down air heroes. Creep Tumor– Creates a creep tumor that generates creep in a radius of 6. Allied units within this radius gain +30% movement speed, +2% attack speed and +0.25 life per second while on creep. Frenzy– Passively increases the attack speed and movement speed of friendly units within a radius of 8 by 6%. You can use this as a “filler” item if you have extra minerals for it between core items. Antennae– Increases sight range by 4. Another “filler” item. Grab this if you find yourself with spare minerals and not enough to get you next core item. Organic Carapace– Increases life regeneration by 1.5 + (0.15*level) life per second. Scales with level but not stats. If you are getting harassed pretty hard in lane you can grab this so that you can stay in lane a bit more. If you grab his early on, get rid of it once you start getting stats. Vampirism– Adds 15% life steal. You can grab this if you like that sort of thing but its out shined by other items you can use. Bug Nest – Creates a bug nest that heals allied structures. If there is a backdoor attempt, buy a couple of these and place them near damaged buildings to heal them up. You should always take initiative in doing this because most people won’t.Razor Swarm– Creates a Razor Swarm with a radius of 2.5. Deals 80 + (8*level) to enemy units and structures. Grab this if your team is in need of AOE damage but its hard to support with your small energy pool. Scales with level and stats.

Early Game – LaningMost likely, you will be laning with this hero. Its a slow but strong hero in the beginning. You are against something squishy such as High Templar, show your strength and go straight for them. If you are vs something a bit stronger such as marauder, keep your distance and try to stay in experience range. At level 1 grab Void Leak(E) to begin healing any damage you may have taken. At level 2 grab Essence Sap(Q). If you are against a squishy then try to go for the kill. If they let you, get close and get an attack off before using Essence Sap(Q). Once they being to retreat use Essence Sap(Q) and keep attacking them. As long as you at least get them to port, then you have accomplished your goal. If you are vs a bruiser, then just use it to poke them and try to get them to port back. If you need to, port back as soon as you get 175 minerals to grab a Nydus. I try to stay in lane until I at least get 300 minerals so I can grab Corrupted Spines also. Once you are back with your nydus and Corrupted Spines, continue harassing the enemy hero while last hitting creeps with Corrupted Spines. Always prioritize last hitting creeps then forcing enemy heroes out of the lane. The quicker you get all your core items the better. Once you are able to grab Broodlings, you can start focusing on ganking your enemy laner. Still continue to last hit creeps with Corrupted Spines. Your next item with be Glaive Wurms. Once you get Glaive Wurms you can focus less on last hitting with Corrupted Spines and focus completely on harassing the enemy hero. The Hybrid Reaver beats most heroes in lane but always keep an eye out for other heroes coming into your lane to gank. If you see a DT, Lurker or other enemy hero, just chill behind your cannons and play it safe. They will lose more from leaving their lane trying to gank you than you will moving away from creeps. Its a good idea to place an overseer or two in your lane to keep a lookout for ganks. Your next time will be Aerodynamic Carapace. Your last core item will be Enhanced Cellular Life. Drop Corrupted Spines for it since you should be getting enough feed from Glaive Wurms and your auto attacks.

Early Game – CrittingSometimes you are forced to crit, which isn’t so bad. Pull crits to spines and try to last hit but do not miss any creep spawns. Just pull to spines without trying to last hit if you have to in order not to miss a creep spawn. If you get enough minerals for Nydus before your nearest laning ally, port back, buy Nydus and tell him you are doing so. Once you have Nydus you should be able to clear critters without pulling to bunkers and go back to base to heal when you need to. Grab Corrupted Spines as your first, Glaive Wurms as your second, and Aerodynamic Carapace as your third item. After you grab Broodlings, you can bounce in and out of the nearest lane to try to help gank the enemy hero. Your main priority is to get to level 7 though. If you wish, you can set up a farm on a small critter patch using 2 spore cannons and 1 bug nest.

Mid GameOnce you are level 7, mid game takes over. You should have most of your core items if not all. Go to any lane that needs help pushing or go mid(desert) and try to start pushing to enemy base. You are starting to become pretty tanky here but can still be ganked quit easily so play it safe. Always grab more armor than you think you will need, enough energy to use abilities and the rest into weapons. Teamfights with at least 3-4 heroes should be starting to develop here. Its your job to initiate and go straight for their squishy casters or bust heroes. Use Broodlings to initiate and save Essence Sap(Q) for when they try to escape or if you need to escape. Essence Sap(Q) is also good to use to last hit heroes. Progenitor of Form(T) is like a defensive matrix that is casted on all allies in a radius of 20. Try to save it for teamfights when your team is getting low or needs to escape.

Late GameYou should be pretty well fed here and can take most heroes 1v1. Your job remains the same as mid game but you can be a bit more aggressive. Progenitor of Form(T) now controls teamfights. Use it as often as you can. You should have level 5 armor, weapons, energy and should be getting stats now. Always use Constricting Slime(W) in teamfights or anytime a cloaked hero is nearby to reduce the amount of overseers your team needs to use. You should also be spamming Essence Sap(Q) on any enemy hero your team targets.

Role of the Hybrid ReaverAs Hybrid Reaver you are the tank/initiator of the team. You are also in a sort of a support role because you have abilities that reveal cloaked units. Since you can charge the enemies, you should also be spamming overseers. This also keeps your carries from having to spend their minerals on them and will allow them to become more fed which in the long run will win you the game. You can also save teammates lives with Progenitor of Form(T). Obviously, the less your team dies the more your team will pull ahead of the enemy’s team.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 31st, 2015 at 9:28 pm and is filed under Heroes, Hybrid Reaver, Strategies, Zerg.
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Comments

Primo02-02-2015, 13:27

Sorry guys but its outdated already… After only being one day old. IMO there was nothing wrong with this version of the hybrid reaver. Ill return to this guide once i adapt to the new hero changes and know it wont be changed so drastically again.